New York Yankees Receive Rule-5 Draft Return From Chicago Cubs

The New York Yankees have received left-handed pitcher Caleb Smith from the Chicago Cubs as a Rule-5 Draft pick return.

Left-handed pitcher Caleb Smith was taken from the New York Yankees in the 2016 Rule-5 Draft but because the Chicago Cubs did not add him to the 25-man roster, he’s heading back to the Yankees organization.

Smith was taken in the 14th round of the 2013 MLB June Amateur Draft from Sam Houston State University and has spent the last four seasons in the farm system.

Overall, the 25-year-old owns a 24-23 record over 94 games (69 starts) and owns a 3.41 ERA with 339 strikeouts. He spent all of 2016 in Double-A Trenton, where he struck out 70 batters over 63.2 innings of work (9.9 K/9).

In five games at Chicago’s spring training this month, Smith surrendered three runs on three home runs in his 6.1 innings of work (4.26 ERA). He was certainly an option for the Cubs’ bullpen as a lefty long reliever or swingman, but manager Joe Maddon decided to go with Mike Montgomery and Brian Duensing as their southpaw options out of the ‘pen.

Smith is the second Rule-5 pick that has been returned to New York. The first was right-handed pitcher Tyler Jones rejoining the farm from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Like Jones, Smith has been assigned to minor league camp and could see time in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 2017.

ROSTER MOVE: The #Yankees have received LHP Caleb Smith as a Rule 5 Draft return from the @Cubs.

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Christian Kouroupakis covers the New York Yankeesand is the Editorial Director for ESNY. Interact with him and view his daily work by “liking” his facebook pageand follow him on Twitter. All statistics are courtesy of Baseball Reference.com unless otherwise noted. Don’t hesitate to shoot him an emailwith any questions, criticisms, or concerns.